Issue 228 · Summer 2026·Kazakh embroidered suede robes, Two 16th-century weavings linked by powerful art dealers, An inscribed Caucasian dowry rug and its matrimonial symbolism
HALI Fair Online is a new virtual event focused exclusively on antique rugs and textiles from around the globe, with a Fair, Exhibitions and Events including lectures, interviews and presentations
K
Katie Welch
·4 min read·12 May 2021·
As virtual events continue to grow in importance and stature, and with international art and antique fairs yet to reopen, HALI is launching HALI Fair Online. The Fair, running online from 23-27 June 2021, will be accompanied by virtual Exhibitions and Events including lectures, interviews and presentations that will highlight lost cultural practices and rarely seen rugs and textiles. HALI Fair Online and the associated Exhibitions and Events are free to attend. Registration is open now via www.hali-fair.com. Follow @halimagazine on Facebook and Instagram for up-to-date information.
Those who register to attend HALI Fair Online before the end of May 2021 will be automatically entered into one of two prize draws to win three recent books published by Hali Publications Ltd. The HALI Fair Online preview on 23 June 2021 is open exclusively to HALI magazine subscribers. HALI subscribers registered to visit HALI Fair Online will also receive a discount voucher to use in the HALI Bookshop for the duration of HALI Fair Online.
HALI Fair Online, 23-27 June 2021
As readers of HALI will know, rugs and textiles have historically been produced by most cultures worldwide and traded across continents for centuries. Encoded within their techniques, materials and motifs are stories of identity, markers of the users’ place in society, references to changing political and societal conditions, global trade, foreign influence and personal taste. From the breadth of international markets to the precision of a single stitch, rugs and textiles are worthy of attention on many levels from the macro to the micro and are key to unravelling complex cultural narratives. HALI Fair Online will allow a broad spectrum of visitors to discover the magic of this material remotely, appealing to collectors and aficionados familiar with the objects available, as well as a new generation with a burgeoning interest in the world of antique rugs and textiles as a result of HALI's social media presence.
FAIR
Connect with thirty of the world’s most prestigious specialist dealers to discover and acquire some of the best pieces available on the market today, as well as charming more affordable decorative items, dating from antiquity to the 20th century. Exhibitors will be available online during the five-day event, to discuss the works on show with visitors to their virtual stands via a live-chat messaging feed or visitors’ preferred channels. HALI Fair Online will not only serve antique rug and textile devotees, bringing our community together remotely, but will also cater for a global audience with an appreciation of unusual antiques, exquisite decorative art and important handcrafted objects.
Mut Anatolian kilim, Nomadenschätze
Costume and textiles from Africa, South America, Indonesia, Europe and Asia will be offered by Francesca Galloway, Andres Moraga, Joss Graham, Sarajo, Thomas Murray, Marilyn Garrow, Donald Harper, Rudolf Smend, Markus Voigt, Menzel Galerie Nordafrika and Michael Woerner Oriental Art; Moroccan rugs will be available from Gebhart Blazek and Nomadno; knotted carpets, kilims and other related artifacts from Persia, Anatolia, the Caucasus and beyond come courtesy of Alberto Levi, Alberto Boralevi, Andy Lloyd, Brian MacDonald, Gallery Aydin, Hadi Maktabi, James Cohen, John Ruddy, Lombardo & Partners, Mark Berkovich, Max Lerch, Mirco Cattai, Mohammad Tehrani, Farzin Mollaian, Nomadenschätze, Sadegh Memarian and Serkan Sari.
Early pictorial Tampan, Michael Woerner
EVENTS
Lectures, conversations and exclusive presentations of rugs and textiles will be broadcast daily and available on-demand for the duration of HALI Fair Online 2021.
Tim Stanley, senior curator for the Middle Eastern collections at London’s V&A, presents a lecture on the royal custom of awarding robes of honour (khel‘at) to members of the court or to distinguished visitors—an ancient tradition in Iran recorded at least as far back as the Sasanian period (224–651 CE)—and shows two robes from the museum’s current exhibition, ‘Epic Iran’.
Tushetian kilims on show in Tblisi, Georgia
Discover rare and strikingly graphic flatweave rugs woven in the mountainous Georgian region of Tusheti from the archives of the Ethnographic Museum in Tblisi, displayed alongside examples from three private collections in an exclusive gallery exhibition with commentary from Dr Irina Koshoridze, Chief Curator of the Oriental Collections at the Georgian National Museum.
Moroccan embroidery, Tetouan, early 19th century, El Kholti Collection, Rabat
The act of acquiring a traditional curtain to furnish his family home marked the start of an obsession for Rabat-based Khalid El Kholti, whose collection of Moroccan embroideries has grown to include examples from urban centres across the country. He shares his enthusiasm and explains the ways in which these exquisite domestic furnishing fabrics were originally used in urban Moroccan homes.
Exhibitions
Several thematic online exhibitions of pieces from important private collections will soon be announced.
